Mohammad Rabbani - Fall of Kabul and Creation of The Emirate

Fall of Kabul and Creation of The Emirate

When UN Special Envoy Mehmoud Mestiri had resumed his peace parleys in Afghanistan in March 1996, he had been assured by the political leadership of the Taliban, represented by Mullah Rabbani, who also commanded the forces encircling Kabul, that the Taliban were ready for discussions with the Rabbani government.

Originally a Taliban idea endorsed by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and accepted on behalf of the United Front (formerly the Northern Alliance) by President Burhanuddin Rabbani in early January 1998, the proposal took shape as a proposed commission of ulema, or religious scholars, to settle the Afghan conflict in the light of the shariah. However, no progress was made until, once again, Prime Minister Sharif intervened two months later, in March, by inviting Mullah Rabbani, now head of the Taliban shura in Kabul, to Islamabad and obtained from him an agreement in principle for the convening of a Steering committee in preparation for the ulema commission.

On 9 April, the United Nations Special Envoy went to Kabul and discussed with Mullah Rabbani and other Taliban leaders how to proceed with the idea of a Steering Committee for preparations for an ulema meeting. With this perceived shift in the Taliban's strategy, Mestiri had moved to Kabul to tie up other details. This would explain in large measure the Taliban's removal of heavy weaponry from areas surrounding Kabul very recently. But no sooner had Mullah Rabbani given this assurance to the visiting UN envoy, the religious leadership based in Kandahar rejected talks with Kabul, scuttling Mestiri's efforts.

On 26 September 1996 Taliban forces set up an interim Government under Mohammed Rabbani and Afghanistan was declared a complete Islamic Emirate under Sharia law. It was Rabbani who gave the dramatic press conference from the presidential palace claiming victory. Rabbani acted as Head of the Supreme Council from 26 September 1996 to 16 April 2001.

Many analysts believe that it was he who ordered the execution of former President Mohammed Najibullah when the Taliban took Kabul in late 1996. Rabbani, who had been a prominent mujahedin commander, attracted many fighters to Taliban ranks.

Rabbani was Taliban's second most powerful man and the leader of the moderates in the organization. However, there were differences between him and Mullah Omar, regarding the influence of the Arabs and the need to establish a proper consultative government mechanism. Rabbani's power base was Jalalabad and he was not dependent on the Kandahari group for political support within Taliban.